Synopsis
A riveting thriller which follows a young D.C. police detective, Lieutenant Matthew Alexander, as he solves two brutal murders and the theft a fabulous emerald necklace from the Smithsonian's gem collection. The action in Hot Stones * Cold Death swirls around the theft of a dazzling and priceless emerald necklace from the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History in the dead of night. The same night as the theft, two young intruders are savagely murdered and both of their bodies are strangely staged in an African village diorama where they are found by hysterical tourists the next morning. Because the murdered intruders are ritually attired as African warriors down to their spears and shields, and because they are murdered during the Smithsonian's budget hearings, the homicides take on political overtones that heighten the otherworldly aspect of a gruesome, barbaric act of violence. Sensitive to the possibility of international entanglements, museum security staff! waste precious hours shoring up their defenses and alibis before summoning the DCPD homicide division. By the time the DCPD arrives at the Museum of Natural History on the Mall, the victims have been dead at least twelve hours. The case is assigned to Detective Lieuitenant Matthew Alexander, a young man on his way up in the DCPD who has an impressive hit rate in solving difficult homicide cases. Lieutenat Alexander and his partner, Sargeant Jake Jackson, face a wall of resistance as they encounter blanket denials of any knowledge of the theft or murders from museum staff. Matt Alexander finds little evidence to indicate a motive for the murders, and even less to help in identifying the victims whose mug shots and fingerprints are conspicuously absent from both the District and federal police files.
About the Author
Barbara Fleming was born in Birmingham, Alabama, where she attended parochial elementary and high school before graduating from Berea College in Berea Kentucky with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She met her husband in college and they were married after she graduated. They subsequently moved to Washington, D.C. where they both worked and attended Howard University where she received her graduate degrees in the field of Developmental Psychology. Barbara has worked in the fields of social science research, higher education administration, improving health care delivery in the private sector, and in the area of minority utilization of public mental health services and client-run althernatives for state government. Barbara has received awards from state government in recognition of her contribution to the progress and achievements of the state's mental health system; and for her efforts on behalf of minority recipients' of mental health services. Barbara is the mothe of two adult daughters. She is a member of the advisory board of her local YMCA as well as a member of several women's service organizations. She is first and foremost an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction, having been encouraged by her mother to read since elementary school.
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